Sympathy for the Devil
by StayFreeG3
Summary: Most people don't enjoy being visited by the angel of death, however, Orihime Inoue was not most people. In this short mini-series our beloved red-headed female with lung cancer and a huge heart finds herself hoping he'll keep coming back. AU.
1. Visitor

**A/N:** **Hello readers! This is a small series that will consist of 5 chapters that I couldn't get out of my brain and have been hoping to write for a while. This fic shouldn't be too sad but there are mature themes within it. This is an Ulquihime fic. Please enjoy and 'click' that little button below to let me know what you think!**

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 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Bleach or any other copyrighted material.**

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 **Sympathy for the Devil**

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Chapter 1: Visitor

In a quaint little hospital located in Karakura, Japan sat a woman riddled with terminal lung cancer. She didn't smoke, nor did she partake in any drugs that would've caused this condition, she was just simply one of those good people who ended up in a bad situation.

Struggling to breath, Orihime Inoue fluttered her grey eyes open as she awoke from a particularly interesting dream about robots and humans falling in love and conquering the earth together. She sucked in oxygen through the nozzle strapped around her face and sat up in the plush mattress of her hospital bed.

She pulled the gas spewing mask off her face and rubbed her bleary eyes as she made out the faces of her best friends on the pictures they hung, secured with close-pins, on a string of her wall. The doctors had been kind enough to let her decorate the sparse expanse. Of course, it didn't hurt that she was dying. You could get people to do just about anything for you if you were dying.

As Orihime's vision came into focus she began to realize that she wasn't alone in her small dwelling, which was as unusual as the fact that she would soon die of lung cancer. She felt a chill in the ordinarily warm air of the room and pulled the blankets around her tightly. She turned her head towards the sole window in the place and gazed at her strange visitor. He sat perched on the frame of the window the pink curtains with small cherry blossoms embroidered on it billowing out behind him like a cape.

He was tall, that much she could gather just by looking at him, he possessed long raven hair that trickled down his neck and framed his brilliant animalistic yellow eyes that had dark tear marks trailing to his sharp jawline. The whites of his eyes were pitch black which only added to the dramatic look he held on his handsome features. She made out long midnight colored talon-like fingers and toes. The furry blackness that covered his hands and feet stopped at his forearm and waist line giving way to shockingly pale skin. He had a lithe muscular build and long terrifying wings that spread out behind his back, darkening the entire atmosphere and blocking the light from the room. He had a mysterious nature about him that made her think she was still dreaming. But, perhaps the most out of the ordinary thing about this stranger was the gaping hole in his chest that made her shift uneasy. It was something that commanded attention and when she realized she was staring at it she looked away guiltily.

"Who are you?" she asked in a sweet gentle pitch, tilting her head to the side in fascination.

"I believe you already know the answer to that question woman, but if you can't recall, you may address me as Ulquiorra." He responded in a low monotonous voice, his gaze narrowing on the tubes hooked up to her wrist and the oxygen mask hanging loosely to the wayside.

She tried to place this Ulquiorra while tapping a porcelain finger to her chin lightly. She was interrupted by a sputter of coughs that made her scramble to put the mask back on the bridge of her nose. She felt instant relief when she breathed in as deeply as she could without going into another fit and then refocused her attention on the being before her.

He would look rather scary if she wasn't so undeterred by the fact that she was soon going to heaven. The thought left her wide-eyed and she covered her already covered mouth with her hands as she figured out who had paid her a visit.

She smiled at Ulquiorra sweetly and exclaimed,

"You're the angel of death, aren't you?", in a tone muffled by the machine connected to her mouth and nostrils.

Ulquiorra's dark brows furrowed slightly at the woman's reaction and he slid off his perch to stand upright. What kind of human sat in his presence and didn't quiver with fear?

"You have realized this fact and are not upset by its meaning?" he questioned, his voice never wavering.

"Nope!" she chimed, still enthralled that an angel had taken it's time from…well…whatever they did up in heaven to come and see her. Her colorless cheeks turning pink with excitement.

Ulquiorra moved closer to her, looming over her bed-ridden body as if to try and intimidate her good spirit. Her smile resided, but she felt nothing but intrigued by him. Yes, his presence clearly indicated she was gonna kick the bucket soon, but this was something she'd come to terms with months ago after her diagnosis. No amount of reminders would make her change her feelings towards it.

"Do I frighten you woman?" he asked in a deep tone, his features never changing. His yellow orbs scanning over her face for any hesitation.

"No, I'm not afraid." Orihime responded serenely as she gazed into his perplexed orbs with just as much willpower and determination. The angel said nothing in response but merely continued to stare into her silver eyes as if she would break under the pressure, but instead she found herself pitying the angel because in the depths of his gaze there was loneliness. She was sure that being the bringer of bad news wasn't easy. But if he'd been doing this for several lifetimes, she was sure it was even more difficult to find many friends. She wondered if spending his whole existence with despairing souls of mortals who feared him and tried their hardest to escape his reach had turned him cold?

"Why don't you try and bargain with me for life, as many of your kind do?" he asked looking at the red-headed woman intrigued by her compassionate façade.

"Well, whether I was pass away here in this hospital or ten years from now at my home, it doesn't really matter because whenever my body perishes and I'm no longer here physically my heart will stay in the memories of my friends and so it doesn't bother me, Ulquiorra." She said thoughtfully, discarding the mask from her again.

She gazed out of the window and looked at the bright blue hue of the sky. There were no clouds in the visible distance and if she squinted she could make out the figures of people walking on the street. She wished she could be a part of them, healthy and bathing in the warmness of the sun, but it would be okay in the end. Afterall, she'd experienced many hot sunny days in Karakura, and she could relish the feelings of those below her from her own store of memories. She was curious if Ulquiorra ever looked down on humans and wanted to walk among them too.

"Woman." Ulquiorra called, bringing her attention back to the angel preceding before her. She blushed in embarrassment. She had an unfortunate habit of getting stuck in daydreams ever since she was little.

"I will appear to you three times more before it is your time, do you understand this?" he said in such a serious tone that it moved her to nod and laugh cheerily at his severe mannerisms.

"I know you probably don't get this much but I hope I see you again soon. It gets pretty boring sitting around here all day with no one to talk to." She mumbled her gleeful eyes turning a bit melancholy. This change did not go unnoticed by Ulquiorra who was moving towards the window.

When Ulquiorra reached the frame, he paused before flying out to look back at the bizarre woman once more. Her tired complexion was understandable given her circumstance but her outward appearance contradicted her lively auburn tresses and bubbly personality that left him longing to question her longer than he could. He locked eyes with her once more before pulling himself up on the ledge of the building.

"Farewell, Orihime Inoue."


	2. Where The Heart Is

**A/N:** **So excited to see that a few of you are very anxious to read this! I would be so grateful if you guys would continue leaving your thoughts and feelings below! Happy to give you all chapter 2!**

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 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Bleach or any other copyrighted material.**

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 **Sympathy for the Devil**

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Chapter 2: Where The Heart Is

One thing no one ever told Orihime Inoue, was that fighting cancer would be really, really, really hard. She had expected pain, she had expected disappointment, but she had never anticipated she would feel so absolutely empty.

The poison the doctors called 'chemo' seemed like a harmless enough thing at first glance. However, it took a few experiences with the drug to fully comprehend its severe side effects.

The first time she'd felt nausea hit her out of nowhere. She hadn't made it to the bathroom in time to conceal her vomit in the porcelain bowl of the toilet, which had become her friend over the past few weeks. She ended up lying on the cold floor of her room surrounded by her own filth, unable to pull herself away from the stench.

The second time she'd been a little more prepared. She'd parked herself by the bathroom door in anticipation but it took longer for the feelings of sickness to kick in. She ended up falling asleep in exhaustion only to be woken abruptly by the need to purge the contents of her stomach, which were few and far between.

She'd managed to crawl to the toilet and slowly let the waves of illness rack her body until there was absolutely nothing left inside her, and even then the contractions within her did not stop. She spent hours of falling asleep and then dry-heaving and letting the sweat roll off her fore head and drip into the clear water inside the bowl.

This is why she'd become friends with a toilet. It seemed to be the only thing holding her up from falling to the ground. The cool, white surface registered as a comfort in her delirious state.

Often she would be woken up by a nurse looking down at her with concern, asking if she was alright. And, as always, she'd lie, put on a false smile, and tell them everything was fine.

It was on one of these pitiful days that Ulquiorra visited her for the second time. She wondered yet again if the being in front of her, peering at her with indifference, was real.

Had the cancer spread to her brain? She thought.

Or was it just the nausea?

"You appear to be suffering woman." His low, steady voice said pulling her out of the almost comatose state she'd been in.

She would've raised her head to greet the angel but there was no energy left in her after the bout of throw-up she'd just endured.

"I am dying you know…" she joked soft enough that it could barely be interpreted as a whisper.

His appearance had changed slightly from the last time she'd seen him. Those haunting yellow eyes she'd seen many time in her dreams were no longer ghoulish. In fact, they were a deep emerald green surrounded by a sea of white.

His eyes felt as piercing as ever but in them there was wisdom and omniscient despair. It was like looking into the ball of a fortune teller and seeing all the terrible things Ulquiorra had gone through. She would've liked to stare into his eyes forever and heal the darkness that emanated from them. But that was dream she knew would never pass.

Besides, he was an angel, the angel of death at that, and she was just a mere human riddled with disease.

Ulquiorra stepped nearer, his talons nearly scathing her frail legs. She laid her head against the toilet seat, welcoming its chill on her clammy skin as she followed his movements.

Her silver eyes widened in pain as she gripped the side of the porcelain with both hands and felt herself heave until the clear water inside the commode turned a deep scarlet. She wiped a quivering hand across her dry lips and saw crimson.

She focused her vision on Ulquiorra who was kneeling beside her and reaching out a claw-like finger towards her pale skin.

"The relief you will feel will only be temporary." He said as his oddly furry extremity brushed her cheek briefly.

A peculiar sensation overcame her; it was almost warm and the void feeling in the pit of her stomach dissipated. Her skin became a neutral temperature and her head no longer felt dizzy.

"U-Ulquiorra?" she blinked sitting up from the edge of the toilet.

"Compose yourself woman." He said calmly rising from his kneeled position to look down on her once again.

Orihime once again absentmindedly took note of his attractive attributes. The lines of his torso that trailed down the length of his abdomen captivating her until they were cut off by the black fur of his lower half.

"Thank you, Ulquiorra." she said gratefully struggling to stand so that she wouldn't be so far from his level. She pushed the thick strands of her auburn hair behind her ear and drug the platform of her I.V., which was taped into her arm, towards the bed in the adjoining room.

Ulquiorra did not touch her again, but she could feel his eyes calculating her every move. Observing her with so much intensity that she felt she might disappoint him if she breathed a certain way.

Once she was settled into the bed she felt so exhausted she wondered if she would just conk out then and there in the presence of the angel of death. But before she was completely lost Ulquiorra pulled her out of the darkness once again.

"Do you recall what you said to me, the last time I appeared to you?" he questioned, their eye contact never breaking.

"Hmmm which part?" she smiled, color returning to her cheeks.

"The heart." He stated flatly. His green gaze narrowed and he took a step towards her.

"You humans use that term so lightly. As if it were something that could be held in the palm of one's hand. But my eyes see everything, nothing can escape them. If I cannot see this so-called 'heart' then it does not exist." He continued venomously, contemplating her every reaction to his claim.

Orihime casted her eyes downwards, her expression holding compassion as she returned to his stare.

"I am sorry…" she said tears stinging her eyes unexpectedly as she felt the weight of his loneliness descend on her shoulders. Ulquiorra's stone façade morphed into one of anger.

"Tell me woman, where is this heart of yours?" He leaned closer to her and held out a hand to her chest, the tip of his middle finger grazing the skin above her breasts.

"If tore open your chest would it be there?" his claws lifted to hover before her glossy grey orbs.

"If I _split_ open your skull, would I see it then?" he hissed.

Orihime shifted as Ulquiorra's arm dropped back to his side, she sat upright and steeled her gaze. She wondered if his harsh assertions were an attempt to frighten her, to make her fear her demise. But it would take so much more than scary words to make her afraid of what was not in her control.

She flashed him a small, delicate smile. The curvature of her lips tilting upwards gracefully as her determination mollified with sweetness.

"The heart…" she began placing a needle strapped hand over her chest.

"…is something that is felt." She looked out the window, once again admiring the clouds overhead. Ulquiorra moved away from her, listening.

"It's what you can feel when someone you love leaves, or experiences joy, or even sadness." She continued passionately before looking into the entrancing gaze of a green-eyed angel.

"The heart is what makes you human, Ulquiorra." She ended, feeling the breath suck out of her slowly.

The sudden fatigue caused her to lay back against the plushy cushions surrounding her. She watched him look almost serene as he pondered her little speech. His thick eyebrows were smoothed out and his eyes not so fierce.

"You're an abnormal mortal, Orihime Inoue." He said collectedly.

She giggled as best as her lungs would allow.

"You're not the first person to tell me that." She responded. He for once looked away from her and towards the bleak floor of the hospital room.

"I am beginning to take an interest in you humans." He said flicking his eyes back to hers coyly.

A blush spread across her face and it wasn't the fever causing it.

"T-there are many other people besides me that are wayyy more interesting to talk to!" she stammered, clutching the covers that encased her tightly.

For a moment Orihime thought Ulquiorra looked like he was laughing at her.

"You're an anomaly woman." He said as her consciousness begin to wane.

But before Orihime fell to sleep she swore that the corner of Ulquiorra's lip upturned in an almost indistinguishable smile.


	3. Friends That Come and Go

**Disclaimer : I do not own Bleach or any other copyrighted material.**

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 **Sympathy for the Devil**

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Chapter 3: Friends That Come and Go

Orihime Inoue awoke to the sound of thunder rattling outside the window to her hospital bedroom. The brilliant flash of white briefly illuminated the dark expanse that she was caged in.

She watched the rapid pitter patter of the droplets splatter against the glass that barred her from the outside world.

She longed to leap out of that window and feel the water soak her pale, sun-deprived skin. She loved the rain. More than she loved many things.

But sadly, the cancer took the joy she felt even for the rain, and stole it away, embedding it into her lungs and now, her spine.

Yes, she had noticed the beginnings of her paralysis a few days earlier. She had been making her laps around the terminal patient floor when her feet suddenly gave out beneath her.

The doctors had warned her of this occurring, they had urged her to 'please reconsider' stopping chemo treatment. But when she had been brushing her long red strands of pride and joy and found clumps falling away, she knew that it was time to stop.

She hadn't regretted the decision until she found herself unable to move her legs. It was strange to see parts of your body, attached and warm, and appearing to be fully functional, only to find that when you scream internally at your brain to wiggle your toes, you can't.

She was completely immobilized apart from her arms and neck; her body was slowly shutting down, and her breathing had only become more ragged as the days wore on.

The doctors estimated she had another week or two. They offered her options every day, but as she came closer to the deadline the options set before her began to decrease until there was nothing they had left to offer aside from pretty drugs to distract her from the pain and distort her mind from her own torture.

Sometimes she'd allow the nurses to pump her full of the medicine, so she could just for a little bit, escape the feeling that she was suffocating. Yes, she thought, every minute the tumor grew a little bit more, and it would keep leeching away at her vitality until her heart couldn't keep up with the strain.

The nurses explained what they would do when her airway was no longer functioning. They would stick a tube down her throat and it would bring oxygen to her until the tumor reached her heart. And when her heart stopped pumping, then she would finally pass away. She wouldn't feel any more pain, she wouldn't be forced to fight to suck in air, she would just _be_.

She hoped she could find Sora when it was time. But, a small part of her also longed for Ulquiorra to guide her into the after-life. She hoped she would see him more than just these few visits he had left to pay her. He was mysterious and nice to look at and, literally, from out of this world.

She wondered if he desired to take her with him, and she thought a lot of things. Those green eyes of his left her re-thinking many of the ways she looked at the world surrounding her. But they also made her feel like _she was the world_ when he looked at her.

Orihime felt lonely most days as she withered away bit by bit. She no longer had visitors come and see her and her family were all either deceased or worse.

"Your time is nearing woman." Orihime managed a small smile and looked over her shoulder at the familiar figure standing in the doorway.

This time Ulquiorra's appearance had shifted even more drastically than the last time she'd laid eyes on him.

His demonic appearance had been morphed into something more warrior-like.

There were two large ivory horns protruding from a, what appeared to be made of bone, helmet adorning his raven locks. His eyes were still a shocking emerald, but the tear marks were wider and still blackish. His body seemed to be all the same white skin-tone without any fur covering it from her gaze. And he was garbed in a long, white, somewhat dress looking attire.

"It's good to see you again Ulquiorra." Whether he'd heard her pleasantry or not he showed no indication of acknowledgement.

"I will only appear once more to you." He said, glowering at her. But something about his stern countenance had changed, softened perhaps.

Orihime sighed lifting a shaking hand to twirl her hair in between her fingers. She just kept looking at the rain and hoping it would consume her spirit. And after staring at it for an incalculable amount of time she turned her eyes to Ulquiorra, who, as always was watching her. She glanced at the gaping hole in his chest.

"If I were the rain, that falls from the heaven to the earth, would I then be able to bind two hearts together?" she whispered softly, surprised by how poetic her words had strung together. Contemplating what she would do were she able to reject the horrors of life that are inflicted on people.

"These people you wish to 'bind' yourself to, where are they now?" Ulquiorra asked pointedly, gesturing to all the photos strung across the wall.

She scanned over the happy faces and smiles full of teeth and felt her heart tug.

"They've been gone for a long time now I guess." She said, Ulquiorra taking note of the shift in her normally cheery mood. She looked melancholic.

"Does this not bother you woman?" he asked stepping closer to her, noting that she was paralyzed.

"No…" she whispered, her silver eyes downcast.

"Why?" he continued etching every emotion that played across her grey eyes, that matched the color of the clouds outside, into his memory.

"Because even though I'm not afraid of death, that doesn't mean other people aren't." she explained, looking now past Ulquiorra to the pictures behind him, that seemed to bring her more pain than joy.

"I was tired of seeing their tears. It was like every time they saw me, it just got harder for them to cope with what was happening to me. So, I asked them not to come back anymore. I wanted them to remember me as the healthy, happy 'Inoue'" she said nostalgically looking to a photograph of her and the hopelessly orange-haired Kurosaki as she finished by referring to herself by the nickname he always addressed her by.

"I've had a wonderful life with them at my side, my only regret is that I didn't have more time." She said, coughing spastically, as small pricks of red blood colored her blue blanket.

Ulquiorra turned away from her and she wondered what he was thinking. When he looked at her over his shoulder she felt better as her breathing became more stable.

"If I were a human that had the pleasure of being your loved one. I would have ignored your ridiculous pleas for me to abandon you." A smile planted itself on her face as she felt warmth growing inside her chest.

"Have you forgotten my ability to see all things woman?" he reminded her, the smile that had grown beginning to falter.

"I observed you for a long time before I appeared to you. You are not as steeled as you claim to be." He was looking right through her.

"There were many days that you spent sobbing, without a soul to comfort you. That fault lies with these so-called 'friends' of yours." Orihime knew that she'd been unbearably alone after her friends left, but she also knew that the reminder of this was a ploy to get her to break. And she was stronger than that.

"You're right, it was hard. But I will _never_ hinge my own happiness at the expense of others." His gaze once again softened at her zealous statement and he turned his back to her, leaving her to speculate why he didn't want her to see the smile crossing his features.

When he turned back to her his face remained in the same neutrality it always did.

"Intriguing." He muttered before the same feeling of drowsiness, that signaled Ulquiorra's departure, overcame her. She fought the feeling until his beautiful green eyes seemed to lull her restraint away, and she gave in to the darkness.

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 **A/N: Please review!**


	4. Almost Human

**A/N: This is fourth chapter! Very excited to give it to all of you :) Also Happy belated Valentines day! We have one remaining chapter and I have ambition to finish up this story very soon! I will be undergoing my very first surgery this Friday and will be knocked up on pain medication for a week or so. Hope you enjoy this update! Review if you please!**

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any other copyrighted material.**

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 **Sympathy for the Devil**

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 **Chapter 4: Almost Human**

" _Code blue!"_

" _Push four of proline!"_

" _Charge to 300, clear!"_

It's funny, Orihime Inoue thought as she lied still on a table, her unmoving body being filled with electricity, it's funny how it doesn't hurt to die.

Another shock, and a surge of clarity returned to her as quickly as it faded away.

She didn't quite understand how to describe what it felt like to die. She couldn't quite hear anything, it was as if all the noise around her had faded into the background, in fact, the only thing she heard with ringing certainty was the beep and screams of the heart monitor beside her.

It was a solid line that was accompanied by a long alarming screech.

The nurses' faces seemed to blur in and out of vision and the only object, or source, that captured her attention was the head lamp above her. Its glow illuminated her body as the nurses and doctors did everything in their power to bring her away from that which she so readily was willing to move towards, the light.

She couldn't breathe anymore; she didn't have to fight for oxygen. Her legs and back no longer plagued her with pain and frustration. And she felt rather warm in the strange state between life and death.

It had all started with a cough that had happened suddenly and abruptly. Racking her lungs with more force then they could bear. Which had led them to collapse under the pressure. Which had effectively halted her breathing and overworked the beating vessel within her chest, which like the lungs, fell to the stress of her sickly body.

Yet now, as she laid pale and naked, with blue lips deprived of color-enriched air she felt nothing.

" _Time of death 8.32 PM."_

And the nothingness was peaceful.

The light above seemed to beckon her and she reached for it with a translucent hand, closing her stormy eyes as she did so. And when she opened them once again, her lashes fluttering upwards, she saw herself. It was an awe-strickening experience. She could see her own physical body before her as surely as she could look down and touch her own palm.

"Your time has come woman." She blinked once more and looked to see whom she'd prayed would be at her side through this bizarre transition.

"Ulquiorra…" she mumbled, noticing in unadulterated happiness, that she could breathe in freely without trouble. Smiling, she began gulping in as much oxygen as her vivacious lungs would allow for.

"You stand before me, nearing your demise, yet even so you are still filled with the easily found joy of a child." He stated flatly, the amusement clear in his features.

This time Ulquiorra looked nearly human. His height and stature were at level with her own. His raven locks were short and neatly trimmed above his shoulders. He wore a white kimono like suit with long engulfing pants. His feet were even adorned by shoes, which dumb-founded her. And his handsome face, while still pale and motionless, looked perfectly normally aside from the thin tear streaks that trailed from his lash line to his jaw and the fragment of bone that gave allusion to a helmet on the right side of his scalp. The only thing that gave away his position as a transcendent being was his green time-worn eyes.

"What's so wrong with living a little while I'm not completely dead?" she retorted, bouncing towards the angel, elated by his graceful presence.

"I am dying now…aren't I, Ulquiorra?" she asked uncertainly, looking towards her corpse feeling a pang of sadness.

"Indeed." He affirmed, watching her expression closely.

Orihime walked toward her body and overlooked it mournfully. Grasping a strand of her real body's hair which seemed to have lost its luster.

"How strange…I didn't think I would feel so…unfinished." She confessed looking towards the angel's all-knowing emerald gaze and feeling comfort in his ever-present composure.

"Have you now come to fear me girl?" he questioned, his soft and playful look morphing into one of steeled skepticism.

He wondered if she would now, in her final moments, succumb to fear as every other human before her had. However, Orihime knew that his question referred to what he foreshadowed, not he, himself.

"I'm not afraid." She answered truthfully, releasing the auburn strand and turning back to the angel.

She moved towards him as he outstretched a hand, the half-smile that graced his normally monotonous features making an appearance.

"Because of this…" Ulquiorra told her calmly, placing two fingers over her chest.

"…I lust for everything about you." Her eyes widened as his expression became so serenely serious.

"Ulquiorra…" Orihime mumbled, her cheeks flushing brightly.

"I decide the ultimate fate of those who I am called to woman, and I do not believe you are done in this world just yet." She was at a loss as to what to say, but she waited for him to tell her what was happening. To scold her for not paying closer attention. Anything to stop the hope and doubt rousing inside her soul.

"Orihime, Inoue this once I will grant you life through the healing of what ails your physical body." He finished watching the redhead closely. He observed as salty tears clouded her silver orbs. The intriguing reactions she had never ceasing to capture his attention.

"Y-yes…but only if I can see you again, Ulquiorra." She whispered, tears streaking her face in a way that mirrored the stains running down Ulquiorra's cheeks.

The angel moved close to her, his softened expression only making the woman seem to cry harder. He cupped her gentle cheek and rubbed his thumb across the underneath of her right eye, wiping away the tears.

He came nearer to her, his free hand entangling itself in her soft, strawberry-colored strands, and in one swift movement he caught her trembling lips with his own, effectively ceasing her whimpers.

Orihime was lost in his kiss, her entire being felt like it was going to float away if the angel in front of her wasn't holding her against him.

And when he pulled away she was even more confounded by the eternity encapsulated in his gaze. She wanted to be right here forever. She had never felt like she wasn't alone.

But in _that_ place, within Ulquiorra's arms, her heart seemed to be bound to his without reason.

He placed a pale hand once again flat against her chest and a distantly familiar sensation of euphoria overcame her. Every one of her nerves stood on end as Ulquiorra bent to hover his tantalizing lips beside her ear.

"I will be watching over you until it is your time once more, and on that day we will meet again." He assured her, leaving her with a strange sadness gripping her heart.

She watched Ulquiorra back away from her, his appearance shifting back to the one she'd seen the very first time she'd been able to lay eyes on him. She saw his wings, his talons, his form, begin disintegrating into what appeared to be dust-like ashes all around her.

He outstretched his hand to her and without thought she reached to take it.

However, upon the meeting of their flesh, she looked up to see, that he was already gone.


	5. Reunion

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own Bleach or any other copyrighted material.**

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 **Sympathy for the Devil**

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 **Chapter 5: Reunion**

Orihime, Inoue had been branded world-wide as 'the girl who came back from the dead'.

Doctors were unable to explain the phenomenon; despite all the tests they ran and all the scans they performed on her. There was no science that could back up the sudden disappearance of her cancer, her tumors, and her illness.

And after all the stories about her miraculous recovery had been published, the world of wonder let her be. The doctors that had stared at her with disturbed awe, walked away and put the entire experience out of their small minds.

Orihime never revealed to the public, her side of the story, the truth behind her defeat of mortality.

Little by little she came to terms with her second chance at living, she tried to rationalize the weeks that led up to her demise and return.

She told herself that she could accept that an evangelical being had saved her, but what she couldn't fully come to terms with was the kiss right before the miracle occurred.

She believed that the action was a necessity to her resuscitation, but, a tiny part within her _wanted_ it to be a hint of the feelings the odd angel with beautiful green eyes possibly possessed for her, the sickly damsel with fiery red locks.

Perhaps, he was afraid of what would have occurred had she been with him in the afterlife. Or maybe he was fearful of how her view of him would shift if she were to see his duties in the heavenly realm.

She didn't know.

And, in order to move on in _this_ place, she had to try and forget Ulquiorra. And she could safely admit to herself when she was alone, that it was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do.

With time, the silent grief she had for herself over the untouched feelings for the angel of death, began to move back towards the crevices of her mind.

And as it was further out of sight and out of mind, new love blossomed.

The friends she'd been protecting from her weakened state, returned and cherished their time with her even greater than they had previously. They let the scare of losing someone bind them tighter, until they were basically inseparable, even late into adult-life.

And Ichigo Kurosaki, the boy she'd chased after for years on end, inevitably fell for her bizarre personality and quirky mannerisms just like everyone else.

They went on together, got married in a chapel, and had one beautiful son.

She proclaimed to anybody that listened that her child, Kazui, her orange-haired monster was the absolute love of her life. He was what she longed to protect, to defend, and nourish from the day she learned he was growing in her tummy.

With Ichigo by her side and Kazui in her arms, Orihime lived the life she'd always dreamed of while she'd been trapped under the poorly lined linens of a hospital bedroom.

She told everyone she met that she believed she'd lived five lifetimes in one.

She'd been a teacher for several years, showing little kids that coloring outside the lines and writing curly letters was what life was all about. And when she had fulfilled her purpose there she shifted from the girl who beat death to the girl who landed on the moon.

Being the first woman to walk the moon had its subtle fame and she hit the spotlight of the media for a shocking, second time of her life. And when the accomplishment she'd achieved dwindled back into noise she retired her all-star momentum to the simplicity of house-wife duties.

Some might say being a stay-at-home mom was a lazy out, but in the redhead's opinion it was the most impossibly difficult task she'd had to face. Even more delicate than landing a rocket on the moon!

Of course, Ichigo was always there to lift her up when her and Kazui hit a crossroads.

He'd often take her to dainty bakeries or on-the-go ice-cream trucks and let her order one of everything. And it was moments like those, where she found herself immensely indebted in gratitude to the being that looked over her life in quiet amusement.

She was happy, and free, and had been given the opportunity to fall in love with someone who stood on equal footing with her.

Nevertheless, there were stills times, rarely, that Orihime would find herself looking out across the dazzling lights of Japan through a window on a rainy day, and she would wonder what life would be like if she'd refused Ulquiorra's gift and instead decided to follow him into the light.

Would she have been able to be with him?

Would she have been this content with herself if she had?

Would she ever have known the rewards of being a mom?

Questions that prickled her mind would dissipate as quickly as they came when she looked into the amber eyes of her loving husband and their sweet slightly-quirked child.

But on a night similar to the ones she found herself introspective, she believed that finally her time was coming to a close.

She looked towards her age-worn husband with gleaming silver eyes and racked her old, wrinkled bones up to place a sweet final kiss on his cheek as he slept peacefully.

She turned then towards the picture of their son, smiling beside his gorgeous bride and knew her parting would not be unbearable for them. He had a woman to lean on, after all.

Finally, she let her grey orbs settle on the moon and took in in shimmering luminosity. In the distance, she caught a flash of large midnight wings and smiled, letting her lashes flutter shut.

"Orihime, Inoue I have come for you once again."

Orihime blinked her eyes open and smiled brightly letting out a cheerful laugh.

Before her stood her old savior, Ulquiorra and he was staring at her with the same omniscient emerald gaze.

"It's been awhile hasn't it?" she chirped noticing the strand of her had been restored to their original brilliant auburn color she'd retained in her youth. Her skin was tight again and young. The clothes that adorned her body were entirely white.

"Indeed woman." Ulquiorra replied taking a step towards her, overlooking her figure in scrutiny.

"That outfit unexpectedly suits you." He said returning his green orbs to hers.

Her lips tugged upwards at the compliment and she looked around, noticing they were not in her and Ichigo's bedroom anymore.

"Where are we Ulquiorra?" she asked, the entire expanse she could visualize was a soft white and the only difference in the area was the narrow golden paved pathway that her and Ulquiorra stood atop, and the small prick of pearlescent light it led to.

"We are nearing heaven woman, I am simply here to guide you." He answered flatly.

Orihime looked away a little embarrassed by her cluelessness and then abruptly flew towards the angel in front of her.

"Well let's get going!" she exclaimed a smile obvious on her delicate features, rows of her sheen teeth visible.

She gripped Ulquiorra's hand tightly and began tugging him along with her, and he silently allowed her childish antics to continue without complaint, because he was alongside the part of himself that fulfilled the gaping hole in his chest.

They walked into the distance hand in hand, orange and black tresses billowing gracefully out behind them.

She was the girl who had sympathy for the devil, and he was the angel that fell for the bizarre dying girl, and together they were unstoppable.

* * *

 **A/N: Thankyou everybody that followed this small fic! I have greatly appreciated all of your feedback and support and interest in the way I portrayed the characters of Bleach. I am sad that this story has come to a close but I have a few new stories in the works so keep an eye out for them!**

 **If you have any final thoughts, feelings, or comments please leave them below! :)**


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